Cereal ß-glucans are best known for their capacity
to lower key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the world’s
leading cause of death.
Barley ß-glucans are scientifically supported to help maintain healthy cholesterol in subjects with clinical hypercholesterolemia
Cereal ß-glucans are best known for their capacity
to lower key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the world’s
leading cause of death. Both epidemiological and clinical research over
the past 50 years has shown that consumption of soluble fiber, and especially
cereal (1-3)(1-4) ß-glucans is linked with reducing LDL cholesterol.
The evidence for barley led to a positive opinion by the EFSA confirming
that they consider Cereal ß-glucans to help maintain normal blood
cholesterol concentrations. The FDA have already authorised the health claim
in the US for barley ß-glucan in reducing risks of cardiovascular
disease.
In the stomach and small intestine, non-digestible, soluble
dietary fibers form an increasingly viscous matrix when hydrated, which
accounts for a number of their beneficial metabolic results. The non-digestible
matrices pass largely untouched through the small intestine, trapping excess
lipids, cholesterol, mucins and glucose along the way. Once past the nutrient
surfaces of the small intestine, these materials typically become part of
the waste stream forming in the colon and then are excreted from the body.
Several modes of action have been observed in
many human and animal studies: click to expand
- First, it is generally understood that lipids and cholesterol
are trapped or restrained by triple helix ß-glucan matrices and
are not absorbed.
- Second, it is thought that bile acids formed by the liver
are also bound and excreted, allowing less recirculation and signaling
the liver to make new bile acid by removing LDL cholesterol from the
blood.
- Third, it is evident that ß-glucans can reduce
blood sugar and thus reduce insulin release, a process that over time
may also reduce cholesterol accumulation.
Most
clinical studies have shown that barley ß-glucans, in the form of
high-fibre flours, ß-glucan concentrates and high-purity isolates
are able to reduce total and LDL cholesterol in subjects over age 35 with
clinical hypercholesterolemia. Reductions typically range from above 5%
on the low end, to over 20% on the high end, with subjects who are older,
heavier and have higher cholesterol being most likely to show a strong favorable
response.
Younger subjects (under 35), pre-menopausal women, those
with BMI of less than 25 and those with lower starting cholesterol (below
200) are likely to show a less significant response to barley ß-glucan.
The diagram shows Example study – USDA ARS
BHNRC, 2004 - Study results with 3 grams & 6 grams of barley
ß-glucan in diet
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